I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 262

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟔𝟐

Looking closely, it seemed that Seocheon Castle was already completely under her control, and had lost its original function.

Puzzlingly, Cheong Juhwa was standing next to the great yokai of Seocheon, as if she were under some sort of mental control, but a brief glance at her eyes revealed that she had not lost control of her body.

“Taoist technique, Eight Trigrams and Celestial Heavens Art.”

“Rending Slash!”

Shin Pyo-eul had barely begun her incantation when we exchanged a glance and immediately engaged in combat.

However, it turned out to be an exquisitely timed pincer attack, and for a moment, the great yokai of Seocheon looked flustered.

“Keuk.”

Jjang!

Jjeoreung!

Kwadeudeudeuk-!

She used her sharply extended claws to cut through the incantation and scatter its energy using some strange technique, but the sudden joint attack had still dealt considerable damage.

It was only then that I was able to catch my breath and check the information on my opponent.

【Consort Hwi】

▶Level 74

Considerably stronger than Gonha, but weaker than Bi-gang and Cheonhob, the great yokai I had encountered in the modern world.

She was an enemy, but it was clear that we could somehow manage to fight her with our current forces.

Consort Hwi, who had been briefly tending to her wounds, looked at Cheong Juhwa with a strange gleam in her eyes.

“. . . Amazing. To think you had been deceiving me all this time.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’ve thought about slapping you in the face several times.”

“From the looks of it, they’re your comrades. I had guessed as much ever since you suddenly appeared before me, but it seems you have quite a few secrets.”

As I listened to her, I was able to get a rough idea of what had happened.

Cheong Juhwa must have had the misfortune of encountering Consort Hwi as soon as she entered the illusory world.

「. . . 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨? 」

This was a more serious matter than I had thought.

Of course, none of my party members were easy prey for a yokai, but if they were to somehow be caught off guard, they could suffer irreparable damage.

It was an extremely unlikely scenario, but it was not impossible that one of them might have encountered a situation even worse than Cheong Juhwa.

「. . . 𝙄𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙄 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮. 」

With that resolve, I met Cheong Juhwa’s gaze after she had finished her incantation.

She spoke in a sharp voice.

“Everyone in this castle is that woman’s puppet. Don’t approach them, or you might get tricked.”

“I understand.”

“. . . It seems that this entire Seocheon is already hers.”

We could not avoid a decisive battle.

Fortunately, we had managed to gain the upper hand, so all we had to do now was keep pushing forward without giving her any room to breathe.

Kiiing!

Jjeolleurreuk!

“First hexagram. Torrential Downpour!”

“Azure Serpent Binding! Linked Wave Slicing Disks!”

A sound like interlocking gears rang out as a torrent of rain poured down from the sky, drenching Consort Hwi.

Seeing this, Cheong Juhwa quickly shot out the chains of Azure Serpent Binding, and used the strange rings released from the talismans she had thrown to restrict Consort Hwi’s movements.

“Keuk-!”

“Ggong-sam-yi.”

Sureureuk.

Pwahwak!

Hwarurreureuk-!

Thanks to the growth she had experienced through our previous battles, Ggong-sam-yi’s fireballs now possessed a power almost like that of a dragon’s breath.

Consort Hwi had no choice but to desperately fend off the onslaught, and once again retreated a considerable distance to tend to her wounded body.

“I don’t understand. . . . . . There’s no way I wouldn’t know a group of Taoists as strong as you. More importantly, why are you acting like this?”

“. . . What do you mean?”

“Even if you’re not the subject of the covenant, you don’t have enough justification to attack me. Do you want chaos to descend upon the world once more?”

It was a strange thing to say.

However, I could tell that she had some kind of unexpected information.

“I’d like to hear more about that.”

“No, surely. You mean to say that you don’t know? . . . . . I don’t believe it, but if that’s the case, then I can say no more.”

Consort Hwi pursed her bewitching lips as if to say that she would not answer, and fell silent.

It was the response of someone who had already made up their mind, so I had no choice but to give up.

As we prepared to resume our battle, Shin Pyo-eul spoke up.

“. . . We can definitely win. Let’s push forward together.”

“No. I think the real battle is just about to begin.”

“What?”

For some reason, Cheong Juhwa seemed to be wary of Consort Hwi to an unusual degree.

And the reason for that became clear from her next words.

“Today is the day. The day that woman holds her periodic ritual.”

“Is that. . . . . . related to the people in the basement?”

“Yes. For some reason, that woman gradually loses her strength and youth over the course of a month. And to make up for it, she sacrifices people as offerings once every four days, and regains her peak condition when the full moon rises.”

Cheong Juhwa explained. She said that she had witnessed it firsthand when she had first fallen into this place.

And today was the day the cycle would repeat itself.

「. . . 𝙄 𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩. 」

Consort Hwi had indeed seemed strangely strangely relaxed even though she was being pushed all the time, so Cheong Juhwa’s words were likely true.

“. . . Hoohoo, you must know well, since you’ve been by my side every day. That’s right.”

At the same time, a faint light began to flow from the sky above Seocheon Castle and envelop Consort Hwi’s entire body.

Hoo-woong!

Sureuk.

Sureurreureuk.

“I didn’t want to use this power in a mere battle, but. . . . . . I have no choice now.”

She was definitely different from before, even in terms of her energy.

Her appearance, which had previously seemed artificial as if she had deliberately made an effort to look the part, was transformed into the very embodiment of beauty.

It was a sight that inspired awe just by looking at it, and possessed a dizziness that would completely captivate ordinary people.

And in proportion to that, the purity of the demonic energy she possessed also grew denser.

“T-This is. . . . . . .”

“Ugh, so it’s come to this. I wanted to finish it before it got to this point.”

Shin Pyo-eul took a step back, overwhelmed by the energy, and Cheong Juhwa sighed and shivered.

And I too, grew grave as I realized the danger posed by the current Consort Hwi.

“I will use the grand spell. Please cooperate.”

We had a brief moment to spare, so it would be foolish not to take advantage of it.

I immediately began to chant the incantation for Hektel’s grand spell Death Transmigration, which could adjust my karma value, while the other two prepared their own barrages.

“The wheel of the three realms and six paths turns eternally. . .”

“Gusanseong, the five paths and six realms. Seven treasures and eight resentments. . .”

“Seven hexagrams, Supreme Light.”

Eventually, Consort Hwi, who had absorbed all of her power, looked at us with even more bewitching eyes, and three enormous forces shot towards her.

Chwaeeeeek!

Kwaga-ga-ga-gak!

Kiiing-!

The aura of death that seemed to consume everything, ten wedges filled with clear energy, and pure light that descended as if to exterminate all evil energy.

The moment all of those spells hit their mark, a tremendous roar filled the air, causing our senses to become confused and our vision to be blocked.

“Ugh, keuk! Keuk!”

“. . . I-I thought I was going to die.”

I was just as surprised.

After all, this was the first time I had ever concentrated so much power into a combined attack in actual combat.

Its power was truly terrifying, and I thought that even if a special-grade yokai had been standing in its path, it would have been reduced to a pile of ash.

“What happened to. . . . . . her?”

Shin Pyo-eul squinted her eyes and looked inside the nearly half-destroyed Seocheon Castle, while Cheong Juhwa calmly used a detection spell.

However, I was able to sense intuitively, thanks to my Shadow Assimilation trait, which gave me a heightened sense of perception, that Consort Hwi was not dead yet, and in fact, still possessed all of her power.

“. . . Hoohoo. You really are amazing. It took more than 20% of my energy just to defend against that. Would you believe me if I said this was the first time I’ve ever been attacked by something like this?”

She was miraculously completely unharmed.

If she had been hit by that combined attack just now, even I would not have been able to remain intact, so her defensive power was truly unbelievable.

「. . . 𝙉𝙤, 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚. 」

It was probably a bit different from the meaning of withstanding or blocking an attack.

The secret to her absolute defense was related to the energy that had flowed in from above Seocheon Castle earlier, and the ritual that had become its subject.

I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like an ability similar to one that would nullify attacks by sacrificing a certain amount of that energy.

“How. . . . . . are you unharmed?”

“Don’t be so surprised, I was really surprised too. It seems I can’t afford to take it easy on you.”

Chwaeeeeek!

Consort Hwi began to attack again without any more hesitation, just as she had said.

I clicked my tongue and summoned my shikigami to respond, and fired off spells in rapid succession with the other two, but we were unable to create a situation where we could overwhelm her as she was now.

“. . . Even in your current state, it’s difficult to determine superiority. You are definitely the most threatening opponents I have ever encountered.”

“. . . . . . .”

She said that, but it was clear that we were the ones being pushed back.

It wasn’t to the extent that we were completely overwhelmed, but there was definitely a gap that would be difficult to overturn.

If only we had had one more comrade, we might have been able to create an opening, and that was what was so frustrating.

「𝙑𝙚𝙧𝙙𝙞, 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤? 」

『Sorry, while I can help with simple tasks, materialization is still a bit difficult for me. 』

About a week ago, I had borrowed Verdi’s power to deal with a somewhat troublesome yokai, and it had unintentionally turned into a painful blunder.

Clicking my tongue at the rising sense of frustration, I suddenly felt a thought pierce my mind, and turned my head to look at Cheong Juhwa.

Now that I thought about it, there was one.

An ally who could match, or even surpass, our current forces.

“. . . Can you summon the Azure Dragon?”

“Ah, that. It’s not that I’m not summoning him on purpose, but he’s using his power to. . . . . . protect me from mental control.”

If that was the case, then there would be no problem. I had only just now remembered that I had something I needed to return to him.

“Azure Dragon, I think it would be possible now. Don’t you agree?”

At those words, a wisp of mist flowed out from the Blue Heart Jade in Cheong Juhwa’s arms and took on a form.

『. . . I think so too. I would have preferred to wait a bit longer, but it seems there is no time for that. 』

It was a clear sign of agreement.

Azure Dragon looked at me as I reached for the Formless Box in my arms, and asked me to fulfill my promise with a confident expression.

『Hand over the Yeouiju. Then I will take responsibility for crushing this insignificant old monster. 』

One of the Four Divine Beasts, and an ancient being that had reigned as the guardian deity of Cheong damily for many years.

It was the moment when the Azure Dragon regained his true form.

Translator’s Blog

Blog

• The Bizarre Reality of America’s Drug Crisis
• Goku Goes Yandere: A Dragon Ball Z Nightmare
• Your Crush is With Someone Else? Channel Your Inner Samurai, Not a Sad Puppy Dog.
• The “I’m So Deep in This Light Novel I’m Living It” Blues: When Your Waifu Gets NTR’d and You’re Not Even Mad (But Kind of Are)
• My Brain on UFC: Why I’m Convinced I Could Totally Take on Adesanya (I’m Lying, Don’t Tell Dana)